Consultant: Power Line Lowering Project On Track For 11/23 Completion
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Construction for the power line lowering project to the east of the Warsaw Municipal Airport is still slated to be completed by November 2023, Robert LaFayette, deputy project manager for CHA Consulting Inc., told the Board of Aviation Commissioners Tuesday.
In his comments on the project - also known as runway 27 obstruction mitigation - LaFayette said, “We’re still doing coordination with AEP. We’ve got the construction agreement that’s being reviewed by legal. We just got some updated numbers on the construction and materials, so we’re walking through some comments that we have for the AEP team for a description of the material costs and a summary so that we can provide that to (Airport Manager) Nick (King) and the airport.”
He said they do have a finalized scope and fee, and the right-of-way work has been initiated.
“The homeowners have been notified. The survey - we’re hoping to be completed in June. There’s a couple hiccups with some soil boring locations that we’re working through with DNR because of the DNR-owned property to the east of the runway,” LaFayette said. “So we think the engineering team at AEP will be able to shift some of the boring locations with no adverse effect to construction timeline or cost. So, we’re working that angle first before we have direct communication with DNR to get the soil boring to a specific place.”
He reported the schedule is still on track for November 2023 for construction completion.
“Everything seems to be going the right way. We do have some questions on some costs of the material and construction costs, so we’ll have more of an update when we get that summary from AEP,” he said.
LaFayette said he needed two signatures from Aviation Board President Jay Rigdon and board approval for invoice No. 3 for the runway 27 project for $7,543.64. The Board approved the invoice from CHA, and then for Rigdon’s signature on the pay application request for the FAA for $11,692.42 and for the state of Indiana for $649.58 for ongoing engineering and consulting fees for the power line project.
“So as soon as we get that signature back, we can go into Delphi and get that money for you,” LaFayette said.
The FAA is paying for 90% of the project, with the state paying 5% and local paying 5%.
In other business, the Board:
• Approved the documents and advertising for the farming of farmland near the airport. There are about 50 to 55 acres to be farmed out.
• Rescheduled the June meeting to 5:15 p.m. Thursday, June 16.
